Colorado lawmaker ignores "Obamacare" politics, supports dental bill

A Colorado Springs Republican who voted against creating a state health-care exchange says it's working better than the federal one, then joked those words could hurt him if he tried to run for dogcatcher one day.

Rep. Bob Gardner's compliment bucks the traditional GOP mantra of always blasting "Obamacare" and "Amycare," the nicknames for the 2010 Affordable Care Act and the 2011 state legislation to implement it. The state exchange was co-sponsored by Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument, who has taken heat for the measure as she campaigns statewide for the U.S. Senate.

The Daily Dose prescribes an enriched mix of news, features, consumer issues and in-depth followups to The Denver Post's coverage of medicine and health care.

"Those of us who believe that the Affordable Care is, in fact, unconstitutional have a tendency to vote in the negative on anything that involves the Affordable Care Act," Gardner told the House on Tuesday.

But he said he was a "yes" vote on House Bill 1053, which concerned rules for pediatric dental care under the health-care exchange. The bill fixes a problem that gave the exchange an advantage over the free marketplace in that area of medicine, Gardner said.

He, Stephens, and Reps. Cheri Gerou of Evergreen and Carole Murray of Castle Rock were the lone Republicans to vote with Democrats for the measure, which was sponsored by Rep. Beth McCann, D-Denver. The bill now goes to the Senate.

Advertisement

McCann said she was pleased by Gardner's remarks.

"Rep. Gardner is telling it like it is," she said. "This is not saying these benefits should or should not be in the Affordable Care Act. It's already the law. He's saying, 'Let's level the playing field.' "

Minority Leader Brian Del Grosso, R-Loveland, said the bill involves a mandate and the caucus has long been opposed to mandates.

When introduced, the state exchange was opposed by Tea Party activists and conservative groups while a multitude of business groups, nonprofits, health care providers and insurers supported it. Stephens is on the record as opposed to Obamacare but said as long as it is the law, she wants the state to have a say managing it.

Gardner said he voted against Stephens' bill, then found himself in the "unenviable position of chairing the implementation review committee to see that the exchange worked."

Missy Franklin, Jenny Simpson, Adeline Gray and three other Colorado women could be big players at the 2016 Rio OlympicsWhen people ask Missy Franklin for her thoughts about the Summer Olympics that will begin a year from Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro, she hangs a warning label on her answer.